Data Acquisition, Management, Sharing and Ownership

Federal Regulations

UVM Guidelines

Data Management - Privacy
and the integrity of research have implications for the storage and
retrieval of data. For specific information, please
see UVM's
Procedure and Practice on Access to and Retention of Data below.

Researchers
spend much of their time collecting data. Data are used to confirm or
reject hypotheses, to identify new areas of investigation, to guide the
development of new investigative techniques, and more. We launch space
probes to collect data that help us understand the origins of the
universe and use gene databases as tools for understanding and curing
disease. Science as we know and practice it today cannot exist without
data.

Data management practices are becoming increasingly complex
and should be addressed before any data are collected by taking into
consideration four important issues:

ownership

collection

storage

sharing

The
integrity of data and, by implication, the usefulness of the research
it supports, depends on careful attention to detail, from initial
planning through final publication.

UVM Procedure and Practice on Access to and Retention of Data

Summary

This prodecure and practice specifies individual and institutional rights and
responsibilities concerning the access to and retention of data
developed and/or used in the conduct of externally sponsored research
and scholarly activity while an individual is employed by the
University. It covers the rights and responsibilities of
individual members of the University community, the University, and
those external to the University who may have rights of access to the
data. This prodecure and practice has been developed by the Committee in
response to Federal regulation regarding the status and disposition of
data developed under Federal sponsorship, and brings UVM into
compliance with those regulation.

Background

Data are created at the University of Vermont by faculty,
staff, and students in the course of their scholarly activities and
often while conducting projects funded by external sponsors.
By tradition and for practical reasons, the creators of data retain
control of, access to, and use of data even though the University,
through the requirements of external sponsors, may be required to hold
title to the data. Because of the obligations accepted by the
University in sponsored project agreements, the University recognizes
that it has responsibilities with respect to access to and retention of
data.

Recent clarifications of federal regulations regarding record
retention, as well as Congressional attention to various issues
concerning the government's support of research, including instances of
scientific misconduct, have prompted the University to develop
this prodecure and practice for retention of and access to
data. Of particular
concern are the requirements of Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Circular A-110 which specifies that financial records, supporting
documents, statistical records, and all other records pertinent to an
award shall be retained by the institution. OMB stated in a
letter dated April 11, 1994 that the term "all other records pertinent
to an award" encompasses all records that were produced in connection
with the award, including laboratory data and primary data.

Procedure and Practice

Definition
of Data: As used in this prodecure and practice, data means
recorded information, regardless of form or the media which records
them. The term includes computer software (computer programs,
computer databases, and documentation thereof), and data/information of
a technical or scientific nature. It also includes
information discovered or generated in the course of humanities and
social science projects that may not fit the common perception of
"scientific" data. In practice, data include, but are not
limited to, materials contained in laboratory or other notebooks or
other media such as computer disks and machine printouts.
Data also include both intangible data (statistics, findings,
observations, etc.) and tangible data (notebooks, printouts, etc.)

Procedure and Practice: Data
created while individuals are pursuing research studies as faculty,
staff, or students of the University of Vermont and data created by
visiting scientists using the facilities of the University of Vermont,
will be retained by the University for a period of five (5) years after
submission of the final report on the project for which the data were
collected, unless a longer retention period is specified by the
sponsor. Where no final report is required, the University
shall retain the data for 3 years after its public release.

The original data shall be in the custody of the senior
investigator on behalf of the University, and access must be allowed
upon the request of the Provost or an individual designated by
him/her. Additionally, at the direction of the Provost or
his/her designee, data are to be made available to representatives of
external funding sponsors or designated government officials, when such
access is legally required or is appropriate to a given
circumstance. Such data must not be destroyed or altered
during the time period referenced above.

Investigator
Responsibilities at the University:
Investigators are ultimately responsible for documenting the results of
research and scholarly activity. Senior members of research
groups have an obligation to discuss the responsibilities of data
recording, management, and retention with others involved in the
conduct of projects. As a matter of practice, original data
should be left with the senior investigator when a student leaves the
University, but copies of that data, where appropriate and feasible to
do so, should be provided to the student.

Investigator
Responsibilities After Leaving the University:
When an investigator leaves the University, the University retains
access to the data. It is neither feasible nor desirable for
the original project records to remain at the University, but departing
investigators should understand their obligation to hold these data in
trust for the University and that such data must be made available to
the University if requested during the three (3) year period after the
submission of the final report of the project for which the
data were developed or used, unless a longer period is specified by the
external sponsor of the project.